


This Old House

by London9Calling



Series: Genetic Renaissance [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Avian humor, Barebacking, Bird/Human Hybrids, Blow Jobs, Breeding, Dirty Talk, Eggs, Humor, M/M, Nesting, Smut, Trespasser, as in there is an egg and mention of eggs, but non graphic egg laying, honestly they just have some avian instincts, is that even a thing idk, no they do not have beaks or feathers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-24 21:43:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14364300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/London9Calling/pseuds/London9Calling
Summary: Chanyeol isn’t compulsively building rooms onto his home just to have a mysterious man and egg show up to claim a corner for themselves. Or at least that is what he would like to think. His friends and the entire world say otherwise.





	This Old House

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I wrote another bird hybrid AU. No, they still don’t have feathers and beaks. Inspired by the fact owls sometimes steal a little corner of stork’s nests for themselves (I couldn’t give this fact up). Another bout of bird mating behavior humorously imposed on humans, ending in dirty smut (seriously, wtf brain). If you haven’t read the first entry in this series, that is cool, no need. I mean, not really (but I will love you forever if you do hehe). This fic takes place before the first entry in the series FYI. Sorry for any typos, I wrote too much today OTL. Enjoy!

Chanyeol’s eyes fluttered open. His alarm clock chimed in his ear, the semi-annoying click-clack noise that he chose for the sheer fact it was one of the only sounds that ever woke him up. He made a clumsy grab for his phone, silencing the alarm.  

_ 1 new message _

He opened the text, smiling when he saw who it was from. Yifan had just gotten back in town after vacationing in Kenya, following the instinctual need to trace old migratory routes. He was already complaining that it was too cold and he should have stayed. Chanyeol typed out that he was a drama queen and to get over it before tossing his phone back on the bed. 

He climbed out of bed, stretching his long limbs. He felt well rested, which was great because he had a lot of work to do.  He had been planning this for months, which was kind of what he did. Plan. It was a habit that he had gotten used to, marking his calendar weeks in advance so he knew what he could expect on any given day. 

The supplies had been delivered that Tuesday and now that the weekend had finally arrived he could begin building the walls for the fifth addition to his house. Yeah, as in the fifth time he added a room or wing or…floor to the sprawling building. 

Okay, so  _ maybe _ he had a bit of a building addiction, but really it couldn’t be helped. 

Chanyeol was a stork/human hybrid, it was in his DNA to want to build something big, sprawling,  _ roomy.  _ His parents had gifted him a chunk of land after he graduated college and ever since he had been building whenever he could afford it (having plumbers and electricians come in was where most of his money went). His house was now a sprawl of rooms, and he couldn’t be happier. Except well,  _ he could. _ Which is why he was adding yet another room onto the place. 

His friends liked to tease him about how he was building for that special someone (cough stork hybrid mate), but he ignored them. Maybe he was just building for himself. Or something. Or not. Really not. He couldn’t help it. Honestly. 

The life of a human/animal hybrid was never comfortable, not really. They were possessed with a strange mix of animal and human instincts, and it was somewhat unpredictable which ones would win out in the end, or how exactly they would manifest. After all, spacious ranch homes were not the reason people started splicing genes together way back when. 

Centuries ago, during the Genetic Renaissance, gene splicing became a thing. Chanyeol's ancestors, for whatever reason, had their genes spliced with that of the White Stork. It didn’t make them grow a beak or feathers, but it influenced how they acted, increasing some senses while decreasing others. And so Chanyeol inherited it, a conflux of instincts that had dulled only slightly over the centuries. And white and black hair. Oh, and long legs. Okay, so perhaps there was some physical change due to the splice, but at least he didn’t have feathers. Only an intense desire to build a colossal nest home. 

He grabbed his water bottle off his nightstand and padded out into the hall. He uncapped it and began to drink, walking with his head tipped back as he went, stumbling along the passageway. He passed the game room he had recently built on, then the third guest bedroom, the second guest bedroom, and then the first guest bedroom.

_ Wait. _ He spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Something strange...

Chanyeol backtracked a few steps, lowering the water bottle. He peered into the first guest bedroom, narrowing his eyes at the bed. 

Yes, he had seen it! A lump, a not-supposed-to-be-there bump in the middle of the bed. He paused, considering what to do. He certainly should investigate. It was his  nest  house, after all. 

He walked slowly towards the strange lump, trying to figure out what it was. Did he sleepwalk the night before and mess up the bedcovers? Was it an alien? A burglar?!

He moved cautiously, reaching for the Zootopia comforter, mindful of what he might find under the blankets.  _ Slow and steady, _ he repeated in his mind. 

He gripped the edge of the blanket and pulled back, letting out a yelp of surprise once the lump was revealed. 

It wasn't an alien or a burglar. Nope. It was a very asleep human male, with a large cream colored egg nestled to his middle. Brown hair, on the small side. Brow furrowed in his slumber. Small. On the cute side. Really good looking. Or, no, it wasn’t the time to be thinking that!

Wait, if he had an egg he probably wasn’t entirely human, Chanyeol surmised. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t always the quickest to pick up on things. 

Regardless, he was sleeping on Chanyeol's guest bed and hadn’t asked to be there. He was trespassing, and Chanyeol wasn’t going to stand for it. He moved his hands, meaning to shake the man awake, but then he stopped, frowning. What if the man startled and dropped the egg? He didn’t want to hurt the egg, it wasn’t the egg’s fault this person had broken into a house. 

Chanyeol pursed his lips. If he yelled, that might startle the man too.  He could call the police, but they might use their sirens, and the man would freak out, dropping the egg. 

The more he thought about it, the more he concluded there just wasn’t a right way to wake the man up without potentially harming the egg. So he backed away quietly, resolved to wait until the man woke up. Then he could confront him and evict him from his home. 

“But I was going to build today,” Chanyeol murmured, wandering into the kitchen. Building was loud….and it might scare the intruder. And the egg. 

Chanyeol sighed. Hopefully, the stranger would wake up soon. 

  
  


By eleven in the morning, Chanyeol was on the verge of a breakdown. He had been tiptoeing around his house for hours. He had waited patiently for the man to awake, but nothing. It was almost noon for crying out loud!

As a last resort, he pulled out his phone and stepped outside, mindful not to be too loud. 

“‘Sup?” Sehun answered, sounding like he had just woken up himself. 

“A strange man is cuddling an egg and sleeping in my guest bedroom, and I don’t know what to do,” Chanyeol rambled. 

Sehun was his best friend, perhaps not the bastion of sage wisdom, but he could usually count on him for some fairly decent advice. 

“Congrats on becoming a father,” Sehun yawned into the phone.

“It isn’t my egg, you dolt!” Chanyeol hissed. “It is the weird guy’s egg. Whatever his name is. Look, I need to get him out of my house, but I am afraid if I wake him up he will get scared and drop the egg.”

“Oh.” Then silence.

“ _ Oh? _ ! Is that all you have to say?” Chanyeol said through gritted teeth.

“Try taking the egg from him and then wake him up, that way you can make sure it is safe,” Sehun said, another yawn following his advice. 

Chanyeol’s eyes brightened. Of course! He could protect the egg and then wake up the man! “Thanks, Sehun, you’re a lifesaver.”

“I know.” Click. 

  
  


Chanyeol crept back into the room, eyes on the  prize  egg. The egg was pressed against the man’s middle, his oversized t-shirt covering a part of it. Chanyeol monetarily wondered if the egg was getting enough warmth like that.

He reached the side of the bed and moved his hands lower, towards the egg, towards the–

“What are you doing?” the stranger asked.

Chanyeol was so shocked he stumbled backward, tripping over his own feet, promptly falling onto the floor with a loud thud. 

When he regained his bearings, he locked eyes with the now awake stranger and oh wow, he has really lovely wide eyes. The expression accompanying his gaze was not as sweet, however. He looked at Chanyeol like  _ he _ was the intruder.

“You’re in my house,” Chanyeol squeaked out. “Why are you in my house?”

The man blinked at him. “I live here now,” he said quietly. 

“You- you what?!” Chanyeol shook his head. “You can’t just move into someone else’s house!”

“I’m an owl hybrid, you’re a stork hybrid. That is how these things work. You build ridiculously large houses for no apparent reason. My kind aren’t like that because we have  _ common sense _ . So we move in, take up a teeny tiny,” the man held up his fingers to indicate a small size, “sliver of your humongous living space and things go on as normal.”

Chanyeol gaped at the intruder. The man was apparently insane. “You can’t just move into someone’s house without asking first,” Chanyeol argued, feeling a flush of anger creep up his cheeks. 

“I don’t see why you are getting so worked up about this. It’s your fault for building such a ridiculously huge house.” The man shrugged. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go back to sleep. I hate being up during the day, it makes me moody.” The stranger shut his eyes. 

Chanyeol sputtered, not sure what even to say to this ...owl. “You have an egg so where is your mate? Will they come too? Break into my house as well?! I should call the police,” he half asked- half muttered to himself. 

“No mate. Police would be bad. I’m not a building inspector, but I didn’t see a building permit tacked up anywhere around here. They might fine you.”

Oh, shit. Chanyeol hadn’t even thought of that. He had been rather neglectful in obtaining a permit, which meant he was technically not allowed to be building anything. But he was. Which was a problem. 

No police. No moving the egg. No kicking the man out by force (because the egg). Chanyeol huffed, settling on asking, “What’s your name?”

“Do Kyungsoo. Now please leave me to my sleep.” He closed his eyes, resting his head on the Zootopia pillowcase. 

Chanyeol had never had a roommate before, not since he had left his parent’s nest house. He had never before had to walk out of a room at his own home because someone told him to get out. It all felt strange, incredibly bizarre, and most unwelcome. 

_ Very unwelcome.  _

  
  


Chanyeol sate on his couch, watching television with the volume low (because egg) when Kyungsoo woke up. The owl hybrid walked into the living room like he owned the place, not sparing a glance at Chanyeol. 

“Hey,” Chanyeol called after him, trailing the owl hybrid to the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway, watching Kyungsoo as he opened the fridge and began rummaging around. He caught a glimpse of the other hybrid’s backside. Swallowing and trying not to think about it, he looked away. He had a nice ass, not that he noticed or anything.

“Yes?” Kyungsoo asked, not raising his head from where it was obscured by the refrigerator door. 

“You’re stealing my food now?”

“I need to eat. I’ll give you money for groceries later,” Kyungsoo said matter-of-factly like it was the most normal situation one could conceive of. 

Chanyeol gritted his teeth and tried to muster up the courage to sound angry, intimidating. “I think you need to leave.” He was surprised that he actually sounded somewhat menacing, that didn’t happen very often. 

“I told you, I moved in,” Kyungsoo responded, shutting the fridge door, a container with fresh fish in his hand. Fish that was going to be Chanyeol’s late night snack. 

“That isn’t how things work!” Chanyeol protested yet again. “You can’t just move into someone’s house without their permission! It is impossible for things to work like that.”

“Well, I did so I would say it is very possible,” Kyungsoo said dryly, prying the lid off the container. 

Chanyeol huffed in frustration. “Why my house then? Because I don’t want you here.”

“You’re the only stork in this general vicinity. I grew up around here, I don’t like to leave my neighborhood, owl instinct and all that.” Kyungsoo popped a piece of raw fish in his mouth, smacking his lips. “This is really good.”

Chanyeol folded his arms against his chest, not impressed. “If you lived around here why aren’t you in your own house?”

“My parents sold it, moved away.” Kyungsoo held up a piece of fish. “Do you want some of this?”

Chanyeol frowned. “It’s my food, you know.” He took the offered fish, swallowing it down. “So your parents left you homeless with an egg?”

“No,” Kyungsoo answered simply. “They left a while ago. I had an apartment but my lease is up, and the landlord kicked me out. Something about my being up all night disturbing the other tenants.”

“And the egg?” Chanyeol raised his eyebrow.

“Oh, I found that. No idea who it belongs to but I couldn’t just let it go abandoned,” Kyungsoo explained, popping another piece of fish in his mouth. 

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes. Who could abandon an egg? It looked to be a hybrid egg, which meant it should have been delivered in a hospital. “Where did you find it?”

“You ask a lot of questions,” Kyungsoo sighed. “I found it near that construction site off highway fifteen, nestled into the gravel. It was cold. I waited all night, and no one came, so I decided to adopt it.”

“And move here?”

“Yep.” Kyungsoo nodded. 

Chanyeol couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He couldn’t believe he was staring at an owl hybrid who was standing in _ his _ kitchen, eating  _ his _ food, and acting like it was a rather agreeable situation. And looking very handsome but – no, damn it Chanyeol focus. 

“Please leave.” Chanyeol resorted to pathetic begging, whining the words since being stern had no effect on Kyungsoo. 

“Nope.” Kyungsoo scarfed down another piece of fish before snapping the cap back on the container and padding over to the fridge. 

“Please,” Chanyeol said weakly. 

“I can’t. I have an egg now. I need somewhere safe to incubate it.” Kyungsoo shut the fridge and turned to look at Chanyeol. 

Chanyeol stared down at him. Wow, he really was kind of…tiny. But in a cute way. Kind of. Sort of. Maybe. 

“I-I’m a serial killer!” Chanyeol lied, trying to scare him away. 

Kyungsoo smiled and laughed and oh wow, he was really nice looking when he did that. “No, you aren’t. You work in IT and you drive a tiny car with One Piece stickers on the bumper.”

Shit, okay so maybe he could have come up with something a little more believable. “You really plan on staying here.”

Kyungsoo nodded. “Now, if you will excuse me I can’t leave the egg for too long.”

He brushed past Chanyeol, heading back towards the guest room. 

Chanyeol stood in the middle of his kitchen, feeling helpless, stupid, and a tad bit hot under the collar. This really wasn’t how he wanted his weekend to go. It definitely wasn’t penciled in on his calendar, damnit. 

  
  


Chanyeol trudged to bed that night, cursing under his breath, shushing himself when he passed the guest bedroom (because egg). The door was closed but light filtered under the crack in the door. 

He climbed into his bed, pulling the covers under his chin. Stupid Kyungsoo. Stupid Kyungsoo and his stupid egg and so what if he built an enormous house? 

He fell asleep a few minutes later, a frown on his face.

  
  


Sunday morning he found money on his dining room table with a note. 

_ For groceries. I like fish and rabbit. Don’t wake me up until it is dark out or it will piss me off.  _

_ Kyungsoo _

Chanyeol picked up the bills, snorting. So he was expecting him to grocery shop for the both of them? That was ridiculous. Absolutely ridic–

Oh, right. The egg. 

Chanyeol grumbled, stuffing the money into his jeans pockets and grabbing his keys. 

  
  


Chanyeol pushed the creaking grocery cart up the aisles, perma-frown on his face. How long would it take for the egg to hatch? That was as long as he would let Kyungsoo stay, he decided then and there. He wasn’t heartless. He wasn’t going to evict a poor defenseless egg that was cared for by a really cute and attractive owl hybrid. Wait, no. Not cute. Nope. Nope. Not cute. 

“Focus Chanyeol,” he said through gritted teeth, the image of Kyungsoo leaving his mind. 

He pushed the cart around the corner, heading for the seafood section. He stopped short when he spotted a familiar face coming his way. He debated if he still had time to turn around and duck back into the aisle, running as fast as he could to avoid––

“Sweetie, what are you doing here? You usually grocery shop on Wednesdays.” His mother. Mrs. Park. A stork among storks.

“Hey, mom.” Chanyeol plastered a wide smile on his face. He loved his mother, really he did, it was just she could be a bit…bossy at times. “I needed to pick up a few things.”

“I’m glad I ran into you. Mind if I stop by your house after you are done here? I’m almost finished up. I was just thinking that it has been ages since I made my baby bird anything to eat.” 

Chanyeol panicked. His mother could not find Kyungsoo there, or all hell would break loose. She had been badgering him for the last couple years about finding someone to nest with. If she discovered Kyungsoo and an egg her mind would go places. “No!” he said a bit too forcefully, earning a frown from his mother. “I mean, not today. Please. I um, I have uh….”  _ Think Chanyeol, think! _ “Botulism.”

Okay, so he didn’t really remember what that was but it sounded like a perfect excuse not to have company over. 

His mother’s face paled. “You shouldn’t be at a grocery store! Chanyeol, you should be home in bed. You poor little thing.”

“I’m going home in a minute. Please, no need to worry.” Chanyeol reminded himself he would have to look up botulism as soon as he was out of the store. 

She pursed her lips, not looking convinced. 

A few minutes and a lecture later, Chanyeol bid his mother farewell, wheeling his cart to the seafood aisle to fill Kyungsoo’s order. 

  
  


Chanyeol was eating dinner when Kyungsoo woke up, repeating his actions from the day before. He padded towards the fridge, ignoring Chanyeol and everything else until he had a container of fish in his hands. Only then did he glance over and see Chanyeol sitting at the table, stuffing his face full of tuna. 

Chanyeol swallowed and feigned a smile. “Sit,” he offered, half a question, half an invitation. 

Kyungsoo eyed the empty chair for a second before approaching, like he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. 

Once he was seated across from Chanyeol, he began stuffing his face, not saying anything. 

Chanyeol cleared his throat, having had the entire day to think of what he wanted to say. “I’ve decided you can stay until the egg hatches, but then you need to get out. It isn’t the egg’s fault that you’re a squatter.”

Kyungsoo kept eating, remaining silent. It was a bit unnerving, Chanyeol wasn’t one for long stretches of silence. 

“Will the egg be okay? Just with body heat? I mean, don’t people use incubators now…” Chanyeol trailed off. “Do you have any idea what kind of hybrid it is? Maybe we should take it to the doctor. Have it checked out.”

Kyungsoo swallowed his mouthful of food and leaned back in the chair. He looked at Chanyeol, the two men spending a second just staring awkwardly at each other. “I have an incubator in the room. And the doctor said he wasn’t sure exactly what hybrid species it was, we have to wait for the hatching.”

Oh, so apparently Kyungsoo had thought of all that. “Sorry, I saw you sleeping by it and thought you were incubating it by body heat alone,” Chanyeol apologized, feeling sheepish for assuming so much. But then why. Kyungsoo was squatting in his house, he shouldn’t forget that. But making things amicable for a while wouldn’t be wrong, right? Right?! Honestly, he had no idea what he was doing anymore. His perfectly planned schedule had been utterly ruined. 

“I  _ was  _ sleeping by it. The doctor recommended that I do that to form a bond with the egg,” Kyungsoo explained. “A rotation from artificial incubator to body heat won’t harm the egg if it is done at certain intervals.”

“Oh.” Chanyeol felt like a fool. He really didn’t know the first thing about eggs. “You said bonding? So you’re going to uh, raise it?”

Kyungsoo shrugged. “Maybe. If I can’t find its parents.” 

“I see.” Chanyeol looked down at his plate of tuna. “C-can I see it?” he asked nervously. It was only right that he met the other trespasser, even if it had yet to be hatched. Or something. 

“Sure, why not.” Kyungsoo stood, grabbing the container of fish and heading out of the kitchen. Chanyeol followed after him, leaving his tuna behind. 

He found himself nervously wringing his hands as he walked. He had never been very good with kids, or um, babies, or eggs. He just had never been around them much, having one older sister and no younger siblings or cousins kind of excluded frequent interactions with people younger than himself. He felt awkward around kids, uncertain what to do. 

When Kyungsoo opened the bedroom door, Chanyeol hesitated in the doorway for a moment, taking a deep breath before setting foot in the room. And then he forgot all about being nervous. 

“When in the hell did you move all this in?” he said, incredulous, gazing around the room in disbelief. There was an incubator against the far wall now. Also a computer desk, a computer. A television. A small sofa. An armchair. A dresser. Paintings of trees, one of a wide field, another of an owl.

“Last night. I brought them over from my apartment,” Kyungsoo answered. He walked towards the incubator, just as Chanyeol noticed it.

“My Zootopia bedding is gone!” he practically yelled, outraged that it had been replaced by black and grey sheets and a monochrome bedspread. 

“I folded them, they’re in the closet,” Kyungsoo said, looking over his shoulder. 

Chanyeol opened his mouth, ready to protest, then shut it, deciding against it. He didn’t want to disturb the egg. Because, well, egg. 

He huffed, striding over to the incubator, trying to hide his annoyance. How could someone get rid of such lovely bedding? It made no sense. 

And then he stopped, feeling a lump form in his throat at the sight of the egg. He had seen it the day before, but this time it seemed…different somehow. Basked in a warm glow, nestled safely in the incubator. Dare Chanyeol admit it, but it was almost cute…for an egg. 

“Wow,” he murmured, transfixed. “How could someone just leave it?”

“I don’t know.” Kyungsoo sighed. 

They stared at the egg in silence for a few seconds before Kyungsoo spoke. “Do you want to hold it?”

Chanyeol took a step back, a defense mechanism. “Me, uh, I. No. I don’t think that is a good idea.” He was too afraid he would drop it. He shouldn’t be trusted with something so fragile. 

Kyungsoo smirked at him and wow, okay, yeah that was nice looking. He needed to do that more often. Suddenly Chanyeol couldn’t figure out what he was more enamored with – the egg or the owl hybrid. 

“You’ll be fine. Sit on the bed and I’ll put it next to you,” Kyungsoo instructed, hands already going to the incubator controls. 

Chanyeol felt his heartbeat pick up, but he didn’t argue. He walked to the bed and sat down on the edge, hands fisting the bedspread in nervousness.

Kyungsoo lifted the incubator lid and carefully pulled out the egg. He nestled it close to him as he walked, holding it to his chest. 

“What do I do?” Chanyeol asked, mouth going dry. 

Kyungsoo didn’t answer. Instead, he sat down on the bed next to Chanyeol, the stork hybrid scooting over nervously to give him more room. 

“Sit further back, against the wall,” Kyungsoo said. 

Chanyeol was careful not to jostle the mattress too much as he slid back on the bed. Once he had his back flush against the wall, he waited with bated breath. 

Kyungsoo slowly lowered the egg to the bed, placing it close to Chanyeol. Not quite touching, but almost. 

Chanyeol stared down at it in awe. 

“You can touch it,” Kyungsoo said. 

Chanyeol swallowed thickly, hand cautiously going out towards the egg. When the tip of his finger brushed the shell, he stilled, afraid he had hurt it. 

“Go on,” Kyungsoo urged. “You won’t hurt it if you don’t press too hard.”

Chanyeol lightly pressed another fingertip to it, then another, smoothing his fingers gently over the outer shell. It was warm and incredibly smooth. Before he realized it, he was smiling dumbly at where his hand was barely touching the egg, feeling an immense sense of accomplishment at being so near something so fragile. 

“I will need to put it back now,” Kyungsoo said, reaching for it. 

Chanyeol removed his hand, still grinning ear to ear. Once the egg was off the bed, he scooted back to the edge, feeling like he had just won the lottery or something. 

“You did a good job, Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo said, busy putting the egg back in the incubator. 

“Did I?” Chanyeol beamed. He didn’t realize until later that night it was the first time Kyungsoo had called him by his name. 

“A real natural,” Kyungsoo said with a smile, returning to sit next to Chanyeol on the bed. 

Now, without the egg as their focus, things became awkward. Chanyeol busied himself look around the room, noting all of the new furnishings. That way he didn’t have to look at Kyungsoo and start thinking about how beautiful he looked. Or something. 

“I work from home,” Kyungsoo explained, noticing that Chanyeol kept looking back towards his computer. There were three monitors set up, so it had caught Chanyeol’s attention. “I’m a consultant. Big data. Boring stuff.”

“I work in IT,” Chanyeol said.

“I know.”

“Oh, right.” Chanyeol looked at one of the paintings, belatedly realizing what Kyungsoo had just said. He turned to look at him. “Wait, how do you know that? How do you know what I do for a living?”

“You’ve been wearing joke IT shirts since yesterday,” Kyungsoo answered, pointing towards Chanyeol’s black t-shirt, emblazoned with  _ Computer Programmer, Someone who solves a problem you don’t know you had in a way you won’t understand. Also known as wizard _ . 

Chanyeol looked down at his shirt. “Fine. But how did you know I’m a stork hybrid?” He narrowed his eyes at Kyungsoo. 

“You literally have a giant wood burned sign by your door that says Park Residence. Yes, I’m a stork, No I don’t deliver babies,” Kyungsoo said without missing a beat. 

“Oh.” Chanyeol sighed. Okay, so maybe all of that was super obvious. But still, why would Kyungsoo pick him, his house of all places? He worried his bottom lip, not sure how to ask the question. 

“I like your house. And you’re cute,” Kyungsoo said, blinking at Chanyeol. 

Chanyeol felt his face color. “I’m, you…what?!”

“I saw you mowing your lawn on Friday when I was passing by. You’re cute,” Kyungsoo confirmed. 

Chanyeol sprung up from the bed, not sure how to process the information. “I need to um, bed,” he said, hurrying out of the room. 

“It’s only seven thirty,” Kyungsoo called after him. 

He pointedly ignored him. 

  
  


So maybe his mother had been harassing him to find a mate for the last how-many years. And so maybe, even while he told her he wasn’t ready, he kind of was. And maybe he just hadn’t found someone worth mating with. And maybe he hadn’t really been attracted to anyone in a really long time. And maybe he thought that the strange man a few rooms over was kind of cute?

And why in the hell was he thinking about all of this at eight o’clock in the evening, lying in bed, avoiding the person squatting in his house?!

Chanyeol bit his bottom lip and glared up at the ceiling, imagining it was Kyungsoo he was giving the evil eye too. He kicked his legs in frustration. 

Nope. Nope. 

Just wait until the egg hatches, Chanyeol reminded himself. Then Kyungsoo would be gone, and everything would be back to normal, and he wouldn’t be in bed instead of watching the new episode of Grey’s Anatomy. Because he never missed an episode and honestly he couldn’t remember if he had set his DVR. Damnit.

  
  


“Wanna go hit some balls tonight?” Sehun asked, hanging over the cubicle wall, invading Chanyeol’s space as usual. 

“Can’t,” Chanyeol answered without looking away from his monitor. 

“Why not?” Sehun asked. Chanyeol didn’t have to look at him to know he was pouting. 

“Because–“ Shit, why couldn’t he? He frowned, hands still flying over his keyboard. He usually went out to the batting cages with Sehun after work. There really wasn’t a reason why he couldn’t go. He felt fine, wasn’t sick. But somewhere deep inside something was telling him no. Which immediately made him say, “I mean yeah.” Because why would anything be telling him not to go?!

“Great. How’s the owl?” Sehun asked, reaching for the candy dish on Chanyeol’s desk. 

“Fine,” Chanyeol answered, swatting Sehun’s hand away. 

Sehun moved his hand back. He raised his eyebrows and looked at his friend, not saying anything. 

“What?” Chanyeol finally asked, giving up on work until Sehun was gone.

“You let him stay.” Sehun smirked, amused by the surprising turn of events. 

“I can’t kick out a defenseless egg!” Chanyeol protested. 

“Right. So what does this owl look like?” Sehun rested his arms on the cubicle wall, looking far too invested in the entire situation for Chanyeol’s liking. “Is he cute? I assume he doesn’t have a big, scary owl mate or you would be sleeping on my couch right now, too afraid to go home.”

“No mate. And I’m not going to answer that,” Chanyeol huffed. 

“So he is cute. Because if he wasn’t then you would have said no.” Sehun laughed. “Can I stop over tonight and meet him?”

“No!” Chanyeol was horrified at the suggestion. Sehun, his snarky best friend meeting Kyungsoo and the egg? No, no, no, nope. 

“Be by around seven,” Sehun sing-songed, turning and walking away. “No need to meet me at the batting cages,” he called over his shoulder. 

Chanyeol slunk back in his chair, lips turned into a frown. 

  
  


Chanyeol arrived home an hour before sunset. He trudged inside, tossing his coat on the nearest piece of furniture. HIs house wasn’t tidy, but he didn’t care. In fact, he didn’t care about making dinner either, because he wasn’t going to watch Sehun stuff his face while he peppered Kyungsoo with a million questions. 

He threw some fish sticks in the oven, finishing them off in record time. And then he sat down in front of the television, waiting for Kyungsoo to wake up and for Sehun to arrive and his entire life to go to shit. Not that he was dramatic or anything. 

Kyungsoo was first, trudging out from the guest bedroom right after sundown. He didn’t say hi, just went to the kitchen and started rummaging around for food. Chanyeol ignored him, folding his arms against his chest and focusing on the television. Or trying to. Or…okay, it was kind of rude to ignore him. He hated being ignored and had a hard time doing it to anyone else. 

“How’s the egg?” he yelled, fighting a desire to get up and go see what Kyungsoo was doing in the kitchen. 

“Fine.”

Silence, except for the rustling of a container and the low hum of the television. Chanyeol sighed. He gave in, getting up and walking over to where Kyungsoo was seated at the dining table. 

“My um, my friend is going to stop by,” Chanyeol started. “You don’t have to say hi to him or anything. In fact, it is better if you don’t He’s kind of strange. And he has….botulism.” Seriously, he really needed to look that word up sooner rather than later.

“Okay.” Kyungsoo glanced up at Chanyeol, expressionless. His eyes were still puffy from sleep, his hair loose. Chanyeol had to fight a desire to walk over and run his hand through it. Kyungsoo just looked so...soft, damnit. 

Chanyeol looked away and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling an intense wave of ...awkwardness. Why was he feeling awkward in his own house? This was ridiculous. 

“How’s uh...work?” Chanyeol managed to get out.

“Good.”

Did Kyungsoo ever answer with more than one word? Chanyeol sighed. “You don’t say much.”

“I said a lot last night,” Kyungsoo reminded him. 

Oh, right. Memories of Kyungsoo saying he was cute came flooding back, his cheeks instantly coloring. Shit. 

“Ha, right. Well, I’ll just let you eat now.” Chanyeol whirled around, stalking from the kitchen with a head full of unwanted memories. 

  
  


“If it isn’t my favorite gangly stork!”

Chanyeol stood, hand on his front door. He had a very definite want to slam it in the face of his friends. Yes, not one,  _ but two _ , because Sehun couldn’t let the chance to meet Chanyeol’s new roomie fall only to himself. 

Byun Baekhyun. Parrot hybrid. Has a love of mimicking and a need to always be talking. Bright red and green hair and a perma-grin. Works in advertising. A wonderful friend, but not exactly who he wanted at his house to meet the quiet and subdued owl hybrid who was currently taking up his guest room. 

“Baekhyun, Sehun,” Chanyeol greeted, stepping aside to let his friends in. When Sehun passed, Chanyeol kicked the back of his leg, smiling when the parakeet hybrid let out a yelp of pain. 

“So where’s this mystery owl? Sehun told me you found a mate,” Baekhyun sing-songed, eyes darting around the living room like the owl was hiding there, ready to jump out and say hello.

“He isn’t my mate,” Chanyeol said, shooting Sehun another death look. “He’s um, a roommate.”

Baekhyun gave him a questioning look. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Chanyeol smiled. “He um, it isn’t important. So whatever Sehun said--”

“Hello,” Sehun said loudly. 

Chanyeol blanched. He looked over to see Kyungsoo standing in the space where the hall met the living room, his wide eyes staring at the two newcomers. 

“Hello,” Kyungsoo greeted back, looking a little intimidated, eyes going between the two hybrids, then back to Chanyeol. 

Baekhyun moved fast. “Well aren’t you just adorable,” he cooed, moving towards the owl. 

Chanyeol mouthed  _ my friends _ , as if that wasn’t obvious. 

Baekhyun tried to put his arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders, but the owl hybrid stepped back, out of his reach. “I just needed some water,” he said.

Baekhyun wasn’t deterred. “We brought snacks. Why don’t you hang out for a bit?” He held up a bag, the odor of fish wafting from it. 

Kyungsoo looked at the bag, tongue darting out to lick his bottom lip. And wow, Chanyeol was very invested in the way his tongue moved. 

“O-okay,” he agreed, eyes never leaving the bag. 

  
  


Chanyeol hadn’t said anything for the last ten minutes, which he was pretty sure was some kind of record, especially in his long history of hanging out with Sehun and Baekhyun. No, he didn’t say a word, too preoccupied with glaring at the sofa. 

More specifically at the people sitting on the sofa. Kyungsoo was laughing, Baekhyun recounting another story about his time working in security. He leaned towards the parrot hybrid, shoulders bumping now and then. Sehun sat on the other side of Kyungsoo, adding in funny anecdotes and laughing along with them. 

And Chanyeol hated it. Absolutely loathed what was happening in front of his very eyes. Do Kyungsoo, soft-spoken, matter-of-fact owl hybrid, was giggling and laughing and smiling –– oh god, his smile really was beautiful - with Baekhyun. Being far more friendly and happy and pleasant with him than he had been with Chanyeol since…

Had it really only been a few days since he moved in?

Whatever. It strangely made Chanyeol’s chest hurt and he didn’t like it. Not at all. Especially when Baekhyun succeeded in slinging his arm over Kyungsoo’s shoulder, and the owl hybrid didn’t shrug him off. 

And then something strange took over, a feeling more significant than simmering anger. It was a compulsion. A need to ….

He was on his feet before he knew it, three pairs of eyes darting to stare at him. 

“What are you doing?” Sehun asked. 

“I uh.” His neck was shaking, some kind of strange movement. Like dancing but without music? “I think I’m dancing.”

“Why?” Baekhyun asked. 

“I don’t know,” Chanyeol answered honestly. He looked over, eyes meeting Kyungsoo’s. The owl hybrid was watching him, no longer laughing and joking with Baekhyun. 

And for some reason that was good enough. Chanyeol stopped dancing and sat down. 

“It’s late, we should probably go,” Baekhyun said, ignoring the strange show he had just been a party to. “It was great meeting you, Kyungsoo.”

“You too,” Kyungsoo stood, the smile returning to his face. 

Chanyeol managed a somewhat civil goodbye to the pair, ignoring their smirks and winks, happy when he could shut the front door behind them. 

When he turned around, expecting to find Kyungsoo still there, he found himself sorely dissipated. The owl hybrid was gone, having returned to his room. 

Chanyeol fell asleep with a frown on his face for the umpteenth night, his neck still sore from dancing. Or whatever. Things were just weird. 

  
  


“So, you going to ask Kyungsoo out soon?”

Chanyeol looked up to find Sehun leaning against his cubicle wall, eyebrows doing that annoying suggestive thing. 

“What? No. Pfft.” Chanyeol rolled his eyes. 

“Why not? He’s cute, plus you did a mating dance so um, you kind of already did ask him. At least in bird-speak.” Sehun looked too proud of himself for pointing out what had occurred the night before. 

“I did not!” Chanyeol protested. “And don’t you have work to do? Why are you always bothering me?!”

“I swear to god you are so dense.” Sehun sighed. “I think he likes you too if that will get through to your bird brain.”

“He does?!” Chanyeol blurted out, far too eager sounding. When he realized how he sounded he sunk back in his chair. 

“Yeah. I mean, he picked your house to move into. He must like you a little.”

“Oh.” Chanyeol huffed. He knew Kyungsoo didn’t hate him. That wasn’t the problem. It was just-- Wait, no. Nope. He shouldn’t. Nope. Only until the egg hatched. Kyungsoo was a trespasser! Not a potential mate. 

“Just ask him out before Baekhyun does,” Sehun said, patting the side of the cube roughly before turning around and leaving. 

Chanyeol pouted. Would Baekhyun really ask him out? He didn’t like that thought at all. 

  
  
  


Chanyeol arrived home at his usual time. He went to work preparing a dinner of baked salmon, setting it all out on the dining table with care. He was folding the napkins up into an intricate pattern when it hit him…the desire to….

  
  


When Kyungsoo walked into the living room, he didn’t say anything. At least not at first. He just watched, expressionless, until Chanyeol noticed him. 

“Are you dancing again?” Kyungsoo asked. 

Chanyeol, head shaking back and forth to an invisible tune, smiled. “Yep”

Kyungsoo walked past him, heading for the kitchen. 

Chanyeol frowned, not understanding why it upset him so much that Kyungsoo seemed wholly disinterested in his dance. He followed after the owl, dragging his feet, fighting a pout. 

  
  


“You want to sit together on my bed?” Kyungsoo inquired during dinner. He scarfed the salmon down in record time.

Chanyeol looked up from his plate. He had been fighting a very bizarre urge to just swing his head back and forth, fast. “Sure,” he answered, not sure what to think of the question. 

He reached for both plates, smiling weakly at Kyungsoo before walking to the sink. He washed the dishes quickly, mindful that Kyungsoo had already left the room. 

What was going on with him? He hated dancing. Or well, had never been exceptionally skilled at it. Sehun always made fun of him every time they went out to clubs, calling him an uncoordinated noodle boy. Yet, here he was, wanting to shake his head like he was listening to thrash metal. How odd. 

And it wasn’t a mating dance. Nope. Couldn’t be. Right?

He dried his hands off and walked to the guest room, face feeling increasingly warm as he walked. He was less hesitant this time, entering the room. His eyes, which only a day before had been transfixed on the egg, went straight to where Kyungsoo was sitting on the bed. 

“Hi,” he greeted, fighting a smile. 

“Hi,” Kyungsoo returned the greeting in his familiar dry tone. 

Chanyeol walked to the bed and sat down, mattress dipping. Kyungsoo was seated on the edge only a few inches away. He was playing with the hem of his grey t-shirt. For some reason that made Chanyeol want to dance more. Not mating dance though. Nope, definitely not that. 

Instead, he settled for small talk. “How’s the egg?”

“Uh, the egg? Good,” Kyungsoo answered.

Silence. Uncomfortable silence. 

“How was work?” Kyungsoo asked. He stared at the far wall, not looking at Chanyeol. 

“Okay.”

“So, you got along with Baekhyun,” Chanyeol found himself saying, trying not to grit his teeth or flash a distasteful expression. 

“He’s nice,” Kyungsoo said softly.

“I’m nicer,” Chanyeol blurted out, clapping his and over his mouth as soon as it came out. 

Kyungsoo chuckled and wow that sounded really nice. “Yes, you are. You are letting me stay here with the egg.”

Chanyeol smiled. He felt great. Kyungsoo had called him nice. 

And then more silence. Chanyeol’s mind wandered to building. He would really like to build, he decided. More so than ever before. Another room or five or maybe another ten rooms. He felt the itch, the burn right then and there. 

“Hey, you’re awake now, so do you mind if I do some building?” he asked, ignoring the fact he would have to drag out a work light and be mindful of his neighbors no matter how big his lot was. 

Kyungsoo finally looked at him, their eyes meeting. “Okay,” he said quietly. 

He swallowed thickly, more than a little enraptured by Kyungsoo’s features. How could someone look so attractive agreeing to such a foolish proposition? Chanyeol looked away. 

“Great. See you later.” He stood, squaring his shoulders and walking out of the room. 

  
  


“You look like shit.”

Chanyeol glanced across the cafeteria table, giving his best friend the evil eye.

“No, seriously. Did all your mirrors break because you kind of look homeless,” Sehun said, picking at his bowl of sunflower seeds. 

“I didn’t sleep much,” Chanyeol mumbled. It was true, he was up until two in the morning. He was working on the addition to his house until eleven, and then after that, he spent some time dancing in the living room. He had spent most of that time hoping that Kyungsoo would wander out of his room, but he never did. Finally, he collapsed into bed, exhausted and more than a little confused. 

“Kyungsoo keeping you up?” Sehun asked, smirking. 

“Very funny.” Chanyeol stuffed more fish into his mouth. 

“No, seriously. Is he still there?” Sehun asked, leaning forward. 

“Of course he’s still there. I can’t kick a man with an egg out. I’m not a monster!” Chanyeol protested, scoffing at his friend. 

“Hmm.” Sehun nodded his head. “You didn’t seem to think that way on Saturday. And the way you were glaring when Baekhyun was over...”

“Yeah, but on Saturday I didn’t li–“Chanyeol clapped his hand over his mouth, stopping himself from admitting it. On Saturday he hadn’t liked Kyungsoo. How, only a few days later, he did, was a mystery. But he did whether he liked it or not. 

Sehun laughed heartily, much to Chanyeol’s annoyance.

  
  


“So, what do you do for fun?” Chanyeol asked over a dinner of fish sticks (laziness struck again). 

Kyungsoo had fried up some rabbit. He was still chewing a mouthful when Chanyeol asked him the question. He shrugged, swallowing his food. “I like to read.”

“Oh.” Chanyeol couldn’t remember the last book he read. Maybe Berenstain Bears. Yeah, probably that. 

“What do you do for fun?” Kyungsoo asked. 

Chanyeol smiled. Kyungsoo cared what he did for fun?!

“I like to build things, obviously. And um, watch television. And movies. And play video games. Hang out with my friends.” Wow, he should learn how to shut up. He was far too enthusiastic with his answers. He gulped down some water, mostly just to shut himself up. 

“Baekhyun said you haven’t dated in a while.”

Chanyeol choked on the mouthful of water. He began coughing, face turning red.  _ Baekhyun, that little shit.  _

“Neither have I,” Kyungsoo said, ignoring the choking stork hybrid. “Do you want to go out with me?”

Kyungsoo’s question facilitated another round of choking. Chanyeol began beating on his chest, hacking, not sure if he was dying or just really happy or downright terrified. Had Kyungsoo just asked him out? The cute owl hybrid who he definitely didn’t want to date but  _ oh wow, he was beautiful _ , had just asked him out?!

“What?” he managed to get out, sucking in a deep breath and wheezing. 

“You’re cute. You like me. I like you. We’re both single. It makes sense.” Kyungsoo shrugged. 

Chanyeol felt his eyes watering. From the coughing. Not being asked out. Nope. “We barely know each other,” he pointed out, eyes fixed on the center of the table, not daring to look at the man across from him. 

“That didn’t stop you from doing a mating dance to me the last few nights,” Kyungsoo responded. 

“It wasn’t a mating dance!” Chanyeol huffed. 

“Oh, well then. Forget I said anything.” Kyungsoo stood up, grabbing his plate and walking to the sink. 

“I-well-I,” Chanyeol sputtered, trying to find the words. He didn’t succeed before Kyungsoo was gone, walking back to his room. 

  
  
  


Chanyeol stared down at the egg. It was nestled in the incubator, a mint green blanket snuggly around it. 

Kyungsoo was sleeping on the bed, slivers of sunlight streaming in through the blinds. 

Chanyeol had barely slept the night before. Not because he wanted to dance or build or punch himself in the face for not taking Kyungsoo up on his dating offer or anything. Nope. Nothing like that. 

After showering, he decided to peek in on the egg, having missed seeing it the night before. Which was also a revelation. He had missed the egg. What in the hell was happening to him?

“Hey little guy,” Chanyeol whispered, smiling down at the fragile egg. “You’re cute.”

A deep voice spoke. “You’re cuter.”

Chanyeol looked to his right, horrified to see Kyungsoo smiling, eyes still closed. So he wasn’t asleep after all!

Chanyeol swallowed, face heating up. “I- work. Bye.”

He hurried from the room, mind reeling. 

  
  


Chanyeol stared at his computer. He was supposed to be working on code, but instead, he had been staring at the blinking icon for the last hour. 

_ Do Kyungsoo. An egg. Dating. Fish sticks.  _

Could he do it? Could he date the man who had surreptitiously moved into his guest bedroom, bringing an egg with him? Had it even been a week since he moved in? And already they were talking about dating?! This wasn’t part of the plan. What the hell had happened to his plan?!

Chanyeol chewed his bottom lip, thinking. The entire situation was complicated. There was the egg. And the whole trespassing aspect. Also the not-really-knowing Kyungsoo aspect. And the weird dancing. And Baekhyun. Damn Baekhyun!

It wasn’t like he had dated recently. Not since that cockatoo hybrid in college, the entire thing had been an unmitigated disaster. He had a few one-night stands since then, nothing that made him want to build though. 

Oh my god, Kyungsoo made him want to build! A lot! Like another level of his house. Maybe two or three. 

Chanyeol let his head slump onto his desk, resigning himself to a life of confusion and lame internal monologues. 

  
  


“So, I have this friend...”

“Which one? I know all of your friends.” Minseok leaned back in his chair, arms folded across his chest, sandy blonde hair too long, hanging over his eyes. The lion hybrid had agreed to meet Chanyeol for an impromptu coffee date after work. He worked at the same company, in human resources, and had known Chanyeol for almost as long as Sehun had, which was good  _ and _ bad. Knowing all his friends and all.  

Chanyeol trusted him for good advice. He was older (despite the perpetual baby face), wiser, had dated extensively (and often). Probably knew what love and all that was. 

“Not this one, you don’t know this one,” Chanyeol said firmly. “Anyway. He um, met this person by accident and this person is kind of cute. And this person asked him out, but he isn’t sure what to say because he doesn’t know them very well. And he doesn’t like surprises, not really. Not like this. So yeah. Also, they might have an egg, err, I mean they are adopting, so that complicates things.”

“Is this about that owl hybrid? Kyung-whatever.” Minseok tilted his head to the side, blinking at Chanyeol. 

“Pfft. No!” Damn, how had he found out? Chanyeol picked up his hot cocoa and took a sip. 

“Right. So he asked you out, and you don’t know if you should say yes because you haven’t known him long. Okay, so answer this, how will you get to know him? How long do you have to know him for before you can date him? If you like him, does it matter?”

Chanyeol held his steaming cup, looking down into the chocolatey goodness. “I don’t know how long my friend would have to know this person.”

“Chanyeol, just date him. Baekhyun and Sehun said he is a great guy and you know Sehun doesn’t like anyone who hasn’t bought him at least one present first. Take it slow if you want, but don’t let him get away if you truly are interested.” Minseok reached across the table and patted Chanyeol on the arm. “It’s okay to fall in love, you know.”

“I know that,” Chanyeol snorted. He didn’t really. He hadn’t been in love, or he thought he hadn’t. Probably. 

Minseok sighed. “Do you want another hot cocoa?”

“Yes, please,” Chanyeol blurted out, remembering another reason why he had asked Minseok out for coffee. 

  
  


“I think it will hatch soon,” were Kyungsoo’s first words when Chanyeol arrived home. 

The sun was already down, which meant the owl hybrid was awake. Not only was he awake, but he was waiting for Chanyeol in the living room. It was unprecedented. 

“What?!” Chanyeol tripped over his own feet, stumbling inside. “We need to get to the hospital, call a doctor, we nee–”

“Not that soon.” Kyungsoo held his hands up to stop Chanyeol from rushing to the room. “I mean, another week probably. The doctor gave me a list of certain things to look out for.”

Chanyeol stopped. “Oh.”

“Do you want to see it?” Kyungsoo asked. 

Chanyeol nodded. He finished taking off his shoes and followed Kyungsoo to the room. When he arrived in front of the incubator, he felt a tug in his chest. The egg was nestled securely inside. Chanyeol traced his finger on the outside of the incubator, feeling the radiant heat on his fingertips.

“Go sit on the bed, I’ll take it out so we can bond with it,” Kyungsoo instructed. 

Chanyeol felt a wave of anxiety crash over him, but he didn’t argue. He went to Kyungsoo’s, err his guest bed and moved into the position he had been in the first time he had bonded with the egg. Wait, was that what he did when he sat by it before?

Kyungsoo retrieved the fragile egg and walked towards the bed, nestling it tightly against him. “No, you should lie down,” he said, guesting with a nod of his head. 

“Lie down,” Chanyeol repeated dumbly. He was nervous, but he complied. He jostled the mattress while he moved onto his side, back plastered against the wall. Kyungsoo chuckled at how rigid he was but didn’t say anything. 

He sat on the bed, placing the egg delicately next to Chanyeol. And then, most unexpectedly, he crawled into bed next to it, lying to face Chanyeol, the egg between them. 

Chanyeol sucked in a breath, afraid to move. The egg looked so...breakable and damn, he was just so clumsy. 

“Relax,” Kyungsoo whispered. “You won’t break it.”

“Are you sure?” Chanyeol asked. 

“Yeah.”

Chanyeol struggled to let his shoulders go lax, to let his body settle into the mattress. When he finally did, he focused on his breathing, on not sucking in deep breaths or making any sudden movements. 

“Is it really going to hatch soon?” Chanyeol was amazed. Soon there would be a tiny little hybrid. And then–– oh, right, he had told Kyungsoo he would evict him after the egg hatched. The very idea of doing so caused Chanyeol physical pain. “I want you to stay after it hatches. Okay. Promise?”

Kyungsoo nodded, eyes on the egg. “I’ll stay as long as you will have me.”

Chanyeol fought a smile. They laid in silence for a while, the egg between them. Chanyeol felt his eyes start to droop. It was comfortable here, in the quiet, on the soft bed. 

“I’m sorry about what I said yesterday.”

Chanyeol’s eyes fluttered open. Kyungsoo was speaking, oh. He blinked away his fatigue. “Sorry?”

“Yeah, about saying we should date. If you don’t want to, I understand. I kind of stole part of your house.” Kyungsoo was looking at him, and wow, he was really nice to look at. “And if you say it isn’t a mating dance well then sorry I misunderstood.”

“It was,” Chanyeol found himself saying. “And yeah, we should date.”

Had he really said it?! Had he really––

“Good.” And Kyungsoo was smiling at him. And maybe it was a little scary, all the unknowns, but damn if he didn’t suddenly want to build Kyungsoo a mansion with his bare hands. And somehow he knew that feeling was right and that he wouldn’t regret saying yes, no matter what was to come. 

“I need to put the egg back in the incubator,” Kyungsoo whispered. 

“Why?” Chanyeol narrowed his eyes, looking down at the egg. He was enjoying lying there, bonding with it. 

“Because I want to kiss you,” Kyungsoo answered. 

Chanyeol felt the heat creep from his neck to his cheeks. “Please, put it back.”

Kyungsoo chuckled, reaching for the egg. 

“Okay, but we can’t kiss here,” Chanyeol whispered, the thought suddenly occurring to him. “The egg might hear us.”

“It’s an egg Chanyeol, it can’t hear us,” Kyungsoo argued. 

“I know, but it just...it feels wrong, oaky.” Chanyeol fiddled with the hem of his  _ False! It’s funny because it’s true _ t-shirt, anxiety racing through him. He was going to kiss Kyungsoo. They were going to kiss.  _ Oh my god they were going to kiss. _

“Fine, but then where?” Kyungsoo asked, cradling the egg.

“Um, my room,” Chanyeol suggested, face turning beet red. 

 

Chanyeol led Kyungsoo into his room, flicking on the light and then stopping, standing awkwardly in the middle. He glanced around, clearing his throat. And then Kyungsoo was closing the door and approaching and wow, were all owl hybrids this forward?

“How do you want to–“ Chanyeol managed to get out before Kyungsoo was reaching for him, hand going to the back of Chanyeol’s neck, pulling him down into a kiss. 

It was chaste, closed lips pressed together, but Chanyeol’s mind was already going into overdrive. Kyungsoo was kissing him. He was kissing Kyungsoo.  _ Holy shit. _

The kiss felt nice, better than nice actually. The feeling of Kyungsoo’s lips on his, soft, the feeling of Kyungsoo’s hands, smoothing the skin on his nape. And when he felt Kyungsoo’s lips part, his tongue darting out to swipe along Chanyeol’s bottom lip, he was pretty sure he had died and gone to heaven. 

Chanyeol parted his lips, giving Kyungsoo entry. He had kissed before, it wasn’t like he was inexperienced, but somehow this was different. He slid his tongue along Kyungsoo’s, tasting him. 

When they broke their kiss, Chanyeol leaned in for more, already regretting the need to break away for a quick breath. He pressed his lips to Kyungsoo’s, this time taking the lead. His tongue licked along the seam of Kyungsoo’s lips before sliding into his mouth. 

Chanyeol still couldn’t hide the awkwardness, the complete mystery of what to do with his hands. He reached for Kyungsoo’s waist but hesitated, not touching the other man until Kyungsoo pressed into him. 

It wasn’t exactly clear how they ended up going towards the bed, Chanyeol holding Kyungsoo to him, lips moving sloppily together. It wasn’t clear how they ended up all but falling onto Chanyeol’s Zootopia bed sheets, both still lost in the press of their lips, in the swipe of their tongues. 

However, it was clear how Chanyeol ended up earning the first soft sound of pleasure from Kyungsoo, a feat achieved when he sucked Kyungsoo’s bottom lip in, nibbling it gently before deepening their kiss. 

The next time they broke apart for air the temperature in the room seemed to have climbed fifteen degrees. Chanyeol could feel the sweat already forming on his brow, the warmth seemed to climb up his neck to his cheeks. 

He reached, cupping Kyungsoo’s cheeks in his hands, looking into the other man’s dark eyes. “Is this okay?”

“No,” Kyungsoo deadpanned.

Chanyeol started to move away, but Kyungsoo stopped him, placing his hands on Chanyeol’s wrists. “I was joking.”

“Oh.” And he was sure his embarrassment only made his blush deepen. 

And then they were kissing again, this time slower, like they both wanted to memorize, to taste, to commit each second to memory. 

Kyungsoo leaned his weight down on the bed, and Chanyeol chased the kiss, not wanting to lose contact, ending up with his chest pressed half on top of Kyungsoo’s, palm flat on the mattress. When they broke the kiss, they spent a moment just looking, foreheads almost touching. 

And then Chanyeol was kissing slowly along Kyungsoo’s jaw, his chin, his neck, earning the second whimper from the owl hybrid. A needy noise, but soft, a puff of warm breath following. 

Kyungsoo’s skin was smooth, tanned. Chanyeol wanted to memorize the little moles that dotted his skin, to trace them with his tongue. He kissed to the juncture of Kyungsoo’s neck, nuzzling against him, breathing in his scent – a mixture of Chanyeol’s body wash and detergent (he would complain about Kyungsoo using all his bath and home products without asking another time). 

Kyungsoo’s hands found Chanyeol’s shoulders, then up to his neck, teasing along the skin. When his fingers grazed along Chanyeol’s scalp, the stork hybrid keened, loving the gentle tug of Kyungsoo’s fingers in his hair. 

“Chanyeol.” It was husky, the way Kyungsoo said his name, and he would be lying if he didn’t say it went straight to his dick. 

“Hmm,” Chanyeol hummed against Kyungsoo’s skin, pressing his lips to Kyungsoo’s throat. 

“Please tell me we are going to do more than kiss.”

And it was all very soon, Chanyeol realized, considering only minutes before they had started…wait, were they dating? Whatever they were, their pace was at warp-speed. Chanyeol raised his head, looking into Kyungsoo’s eyes, appreciating the pretty pink blush that had found its way to the other man’s cheeks. 

“If you want to.” It wasn’t the sexiest thing he had ever said, but by far it wasn’t the most embarrassing. 

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo nodded. 

And Chanyeol wasn’t going to say no. He pressed his lips to Kyungsoo’s, but this time there was nothing chaste about it. The clashing of teeth, the slide of their tongues. They moved with a different purpose now, Kyungsoo’s hands smoothing to Chanyeol’s shoulders, gripping hard. 

When Kyungsoo moved to pull up Chanyeol’s t-shirt, the taller man broke the kiss, happy to sit back on his knees and toss the garment off. Even happier, he realized, when Kyungsoo gave his naked chest and torso an appreciative once-over. 

“Surprised?” Chanyeol asked. 

Kyungsoo didn’t answer. He tugged at his own t-shirt, managing to sit up enough to pull it over his head and toss it onto the floor. 

And holy hell, Kyungsoo was ripped. Chanyeol wasn’t flabby, but he wasn’t toned. Kyungsoo, however, had been hiding muscle under his baggy shirts. Chanyeol licked his lips, not even realizing what he was doing until Kyungsoo was chuckling at his reaction. 

“Surprised?” he asked in turn. 

“I um, is it bad if I want to lick your abs?” Chanyeol blurted out, eyes fixated on the ridges of Kyungsoo’s abdomen. 

“No, but only if you actually do it,” Kyungsoo responded, laying back. 

Chanyeol wouldn’t pass up the chance for the world. His mouth found Kyungsoo’s neck, and then he began his path downwards, sucking and kissing Kyungsoo’s chest as he went. His hand found Kyungsoo’s nipple, palming over the erect bud as he lazily worked his way towards the grand prize. 

Kyungsoo keened into the touch, back arching, another low throaty whimper escaping his lips. 

When Chanyeol’s tongue began to lick along his defined abdomen, tasting and worshipping, Kyungsoo fisted his fingers into Chanyeol’s hair. 

How could he ever have hesitated to say yes to this man? Chanyeol could never understand, not when he was leaving pink blotches along the tanned skin, relishing in the low moans, in the way Kyungsoo was reacting to his touches. 

And Chanyeol’s body was reacting in kind. He could feel his erection straining against his jeans. Every time he moved lower he felt the gentle friction of his body rubbing against the mattress, a pressure, a feeling that made him want more. 

When he reached Kyungsoo’s waist, he peppered soft kisses before grazing his teeth against the skin, palm smoothing over Kyungsoo’s thighs. Kyungsoo was hard too, erection tenting his sweatpants, a small wet spot forming. 

Chanyeol nuzzled against Kyungsoo’s hardness, tonguing through the fabric, basking in the raspy moans spilling from Kyungsoo’s mouth. 

He mouthed over the hardness, Kyungsoo bucking up, impatient and wanting. He hooked his fingers on Kyungsoo’s waistband, looking up, waiting for permission. 

“Please,” Kyungsoo husked, sounding more than a little impatient. 

Chanyeol smiled, dragging the fabric lower, Kyungsoo lifting his hips to help. He pulled the sweatpants down, Kyungsoo kicking his legs until they were falling onto the floor to join the rest of their discarded clothing. 

Kyungsoo’s cock was hard and leaking, flush against his abdomen. Chanyeol circled the base with his hand, pumping once, then twice, before swelling around the head. 

Kyungsoo made the most beautiful, sinful of noises. Chanyeol decided then and there he could listen to them forever. Would hopefully listen to them forever if he played his cards right. 

He sucked in the length, hand fisting lazily as he tasted, tonguing the underside. He was slow, purposeful, as he sucked Kyungsoo off, pumping his cock as he twirled his tongue. 

“I’m going to ––please,” Kyungsoo husked, reaching for Chanyeol, urging him to stop.

Chanyeol raised his head, a trail of saliva connecting his swollen lips with Kyungsoo’s cock. 

“I don’t want to come like this,” Kyungsoo rasped. “I want–“ He sucked in a deep breath, already half-wrecked from the blow job. 

Chanyeol gave Kyungsoo’s cock one last lazy pump before he sat back, rocking onto his knees on the bed, appreciating the good-looking man in front of him. “What do you want?” he asked quietly. 

“Fuck me,” Kyungsoo murmured. 

Chanyeol swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing. “Yeah, okay.”

He stood up, unbuttoning his jeans and sliding them over his hips. He belatedly thought of lubricant, of a condom, of all of the things that he hadn’t even considered until that moment. He had some lubricant somewhere, but he knew he didn’t have any condoms. 

When he stood, not moving, Kyungsoo realized something was wrong. “What?”

“Condoms,” he rasped. “I don’t have any.”

“I don’t care,” Kyungsoo answered swiftly. He leaned up, supporting himself with his shoulders, His legs fell open, cock hard against his stomach. 

Chanyeol had to fight hard against the urge to climb on top of him. 

“I haven’t had sex in years. I know I’m clean,” Kyungsoo said. 

“I am too,” Chanyeol answered. But then, without a condom…

“There’s already an egg in the other room,” Kyungsoo pointed out. 

Right. The egg. 

“But if you don’t want to, we can always–“

“No, I want to,” Chanyeol interrupted. Of course, he wanted to. The thought of Kyungsoo full of his eggs, of their own offspring, was a tantalizing thought. 

He padded over to his dresser, fishing in the top drawer for the bottle of lubricant. When he returned to the bed, he stood dumbly, not sure how to proceed. 

“You have the fingers for it,” Kyungsoo said suggestively, laying back, spreading his legs to reveal his hole. 

Chanyeol was all too happy to kneel, to open the bottle and coat his fingers in the cold lubricant. He thought he could come from this alone, from the promise of working Kyungsoo open. 

Kyungsoo whined when Chanyeol circled his finger around his rim, causing Chanyeol to stop, afraid he was doing something wrong. 

“Go on,” Kyungsoo urged, sounding a little annoyed.

Chanyeol felt embarrassed, but only for the length of time it took for him to press his finger inside Kyungsoo, because then Kyungsoo was letting out little breathy moans and holy shit he had his finger in him. He went slow, testing and teasing, pressing in cautiously until was buried to his knuckle. 

Kyungsoo was tight, warm, clenching around his digit. He pulled his finger out, crocking it slightly, before pressing it back in. 

“More,” Kyungsoo urged, and Chanyeol wasn’t going to argue. 

He added another finger, watching as Kyungsoo swallowed around his digits, clenching, working his hips to meet the shallow thrusts. His body was asking for more and Chanyeol couldn’t deny him, couldn’t stop from pumping his fingers into him, marveling at the way Kyungsoo unravelled at his touch. 

It wasn’t long before Kyungsoo was urging him to stop again.

“I want you in me,” he breathed, eyes half-lidded, bottom lip swollen from where he had bitten it to stifle his louder moans. 

Chanyeol removed his fingers, grabbing the bottle of lubricant and squirting some on his palm. He lubed up his cock, heart racing at what he was about to do. “What position should we–“

“Just fuck me.” So maybe owl hybrids were a bit impatient. 

Chanyeol gripped Kyungsoo’s thighs, parting his legs as he settled between them. He guided his cock into Kyungsoo’s hole, head teasing along the puckered flesh before he pressed in. And fucking hell, now that, that was what heaven was. 

Kyungsoo swallowing around him, tight, a wet heat that he wanted to lose himself in for as long as humanly possible. Chanyeol pushed inside, husky breaths escaping his lips as he buried himself, falling forward, hands supporting him on the mattress. Kyungsoo grabbed for him, hand going to Chanyeol’s nape, pulling him down for a sloppy, open mouth kiss. 

And then he was moving his hips, pulling out before thrusting in, their kiss dissolving into shared moans of arousal, of desire. 

“You’re so tight,” Chanyeol rasped, marveling in the way Kyungsoo sucked him in.

“You’re too big,” Kyungsoo joked, voice raw, a huff of hot breath followed by a moan telling Chanyeol just how much he was not annoyed at the fact. 

Kyungsoo’s face was flush, brow furrowing as he reveled in the sensation of being fucked open. Chanyeol pressed a messy kiss to his cheek, tasting the salt of sweat. He snapped his hips hard, both men crying out in tandem. 

“Have you ever bred anyone before?” Kyungsoo husked, hands playing along Chanyeol’s bare arms, short nails digging along skin. 

“N-no,” Chanyeol stuttered, feeling Kyungsoo’s thighs tighten around him. His head lolled forward, forehead wet with sweat.

“Breed me, Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo whispered into his ear, swiveling his hips, meeting Chanyeol’s thrusts. 

He felt his abdomen clench, muscles tightening. 

“Fuck me full,” Kyungsoo said, squeezing Chanyeol’s biceps, urging him to go faster. 

Chanyeol pistoned his hips, crying out as he buried himself again and again inside of Kyungsoo. He fucked into him, skin slapping against skin, over and over. It was heady, intoxicating, each drag, each pull, each time he buried his length deep inside of Kyungsoo. Their moans mingled, grew louder, as they shared in their pleasure.

Kyungsoo’s right hand moved to his cock. He began fisting himself to Chanyeol’s thrusts, erotic, breathy noises escaping his lips. 

“Make me cum,” Kyungsoo whispered, raw and wanting. 

Chanyeol slammed into the smaller man hard, feeling his own release building, pooling in his abdomen. 

“You want me to fuck you full?” he keened, throwing his head back. He grabbed for Kyungsoo’s hips as he leaned back, pulling the owl hybrid to him, bending his legs up, changing the angle.

“Like that,” Kyungsoo cried out, practically screaming as Chanyeol drove into his prostate. 

Chanyeol watched as he came undone, as he gasped and cried, cock spurting onto his stomach. And then he was making his own strangled noises, Kyungsoo clenching around his dick urging him on. 

And it was too much, he was coming, spilling his white hot seed inside of Kyungsoo in spurts, feeling his muscles tense then release as he fucked his cum inside of the smaller man. 

Kyungsoo shivered, overstimulated, whining as he was filled. Chanyeol fell forward, resting his forehead against Kyungsoo’s, sharing his breath, as they worked through their release. 

Chanyeol was still gasping for air, coming down from his orgasm, when Kyungsoo spoke. 

“Did you know owl hybrids like to mate for days?” he rasped, hand going to the nape of Chanyeol’s neck. 

Chanyeol squinted. “No.”

“Good thing it is the weekend,” Kyungsoo whispered, pulling Chanyeol in for a kiss. 

  
  
  


**Epilogue**

Chanyeol gripped Kyungsoo’s hand in his, squeezing tightly. The room smelled like antiseptic, was blindingly white, white floor, white walls, a white ceiling. A doctor stood at the ready, nurses surrounding her. Chanyeol usually hated hospitals, but this time it was different. 

He couldn’t believe it was really happening. It was really time. Soon, very soon, they would know. He glanced at Kyungsoo, noting the way he was chewing his bottom lip. 

“Hey,” he said, pulling Kyungsoo to his side, arm going around the smaller man’s shoulders. “It will be fine.”

“I know,” Kyungsoo said, “I know.”

Chanyeol couldn’t help but place a soft kiss on Kyungsoo’s temple. They were going to be parents. Two weeks after they met. 

Okay, so time didn’t matter, at least that is what Chanyeol had decided. Time didn’t change that he was happy with Kyungsoo, that they were happy with what was to come. Two weeks or two years, it didn’t matter. What mattered was the affection they felt for each other, for the egg, for their future. That was all that mattered, and Chanyeol couldn’t be happier. 

  
  


It had taken them ten minutes to figure out the car seat, a joint effort that had both men scratching their heads. They had a lot to learn, their brief immersion in parenting books, videos, and online forums not preparing them for everything. 

It was another few minutes to unbuckle the car seat and double check that everything they needed was out of the car. Kyungsoo carried the car seat towards the front door, Chanyeol rushing to hold it open for him. 

He beamed at the sight of Kyungsoo carrying their tiny bundle of joy up the walk. His family. He had a family now. 

Kyungsoo brushed past him, entering the house and––

“Park Chanyeol!”

_ Shit. _ Chanyeol rushed inside, door slamming behind him. His mother was standing in the middle of the living room, staring wide-eyed at Kyungsoo and the car seat. And the baby. And the blanket that said Stork Baby (even if that was a lie, but Chanyeol couldn’t help buying it nonetheless). 

“Mom, hey,” he greeted, honestly terrified for what was to come. “Uh, how long have you–“

“You had a baby, and you didn’t even tell me?” She looked hurt, tears welling in her eyes. 

“No, no. I mean yes, but no, not exactly? Not– look it is complicated.” Chanyeol rushed towards her, needing to fix the situation. 

“I’ll go put her in her crib,” Kyungsoo said quietly, offering Chanyeol’s mom a small smile as he passed. 

  
  


The trio looked down at the sleeping infant. Chanyeol was still trying to get over how positively tiny she was. All pink and …well,  _ tiny _ . Her little hands were balled up into fists as she slept. She was beautiful, Chanyeol decided. Absolutely perfect. 

“What’s her name?” Chanyeol’s mother whispered. 

“Not sure yet,” Chanyeol answered. They hadn’t committed to anything, deciding to see what her personality fit before they gave her a name.

“So, she’s a penguin hybrid,” his mother said, smiling. After a lengthy explanation and a short conversation with Kyungsoo, she was quite excited about the entire situation. She still scolded Chanyeol for not telling her about it beforehand, but her words were spoken with an undertone of affection. She was thrilled her son had found a mate and ended up with a grandkid to boot. 

“Yep. A penguin hybrid,” Chanyeol confirmed. It had been a complete surprise, but the entire situation had been. Kyungsoo moving in, the egg, their relationship. All of it was a pleasant surprise. 

One that Chanyeol decided he wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. 

Even a bigger house. With more rooms. 

Fine, he was already planning on building another expansion on. But Kyungsoo deserved a bigger  nest house, he decided. It was only fair. No matter what Kyungsoo said about how ridiculously huge the house was already. After all, it was the reason he had moved in to begin with. It was a reason they had a daughter now. It was the reason they might have kept the incubator, another clutch on the way. 

A big house was a great idea. Chanyeol knew it. Even if he didn’t have to pencil his next project in on his calendar. Because sometimes surprises were good. 


End file.
